Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out yesterday for my first paid charter since IRMA and was thankful to have it.  Steve really wanted to catch a tarpon and we gave it a go!  Bait was fairly easy and we got enough right out of the marina basin.  We headed to the backcountry and tried some channels.  Found some tarpon in the first area busting bait pretty good, but they were acting a little funny.  The tide was absolutely ripping due to the near full moon and king tides we are having now.  It was fishable though but the fish definitely didn’t seem happy.  We fished hard and moved a few times, had a few sharks and a big ray but that was it.  The tarpon were busting every so often, not rolling too much.  Anyways after an hour or so we moved spots.  Tried off the mainland and the water was super muddy and weedy out there.  With the ripping current it was difficult keeping baits out there.  We did see some tarpon free jump so there were a few around, but never had a bite of anything.  We ran through the canal to check some areas in there, found some little tarpon but no luck with them.  We tried some live baits in case some snook were there too, but no love at all.  After that we tried flamingo and didn’t see a whole lot of activity but we did see a busy near a channel marker. We set up and soon after we did get a tarpon bite, but one of those funny bites where they grabbed the bait, jumped and spit it before even coming tight on the line.  I saw another bust and thought we may get another shot, but  no such luck.  We then ran back towards Islamorada to try some local channels.  I gave it some extra time since I was able to work that out and it was nice to be on the water again.  But the tarpon just didn’t want to happen.  We tried 3 more channels, think I had seen a couple fish roll in one spot but no more bites.  We had another shark bite us off and that was it.  I had talked to a friend who tarpon fished around the bridges most of the day, and they hadn’t had any luck either and never saw a tarpon so I feel we made the right more going where we did there were definitely some fish around back there.  Anyways a tough day but it was nice to be on the water and we definitely gave it a good hard effort.  I think fishing will get better once we move away from this full moon hopefully in a few more days.  The winds are going to be more northeasterly through the end of the week (hopefully) and that will be great too.  We had a lot of hard south wind the last week which just doesn’t help our backcountry fishing at all, northeast things will cool down, clean up, and should help push more bait down the coast which means fall mullet run tarpon fishing usually.  We are 100% back in business so give me a call if you are looking to get out there!  0 for 1

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out with return clients Zeb and Suzy today for a full day of everglades tarpon fishing.  We caught a bit of bait early and went right where we found them yesterday.  Today though was a different day, we didn’t see much early on but after a little driving around we started to see a handful roll.  We didn’t get any bites early on and probably moved half a dozen times where we had seen fish come up but they just didn’t want to play.  We eventually had one bite but unfortunately the fish jumped at us and didn’t stay buttoned and it was over before we knew it.  I talked to a friend who was out in another channel and he said it was similar for him they saw a decent amount of fish but never had a bite.  But at least the sharks kept us busy we had some big blacktips and big lemon sharks.  We ended up running out of mullet since fishing was tough we were using them up trying to make it happen, we went and caught some trout and ladyfish.  We then tried again the last hour with the fresh ladyfish and the tide coming in, but didn’t see any tarpon after that but got a couple more sharks.  Oh well as I say it is ‘hit and miss’ this time of year, I thought after yesterday morning being so good that today would be too we definitely had good conditions but the fish just weren’t happy.  I’m off tomorrow and then suppose to go out of town Wednesday but now we have to be in hurricane preparation mode for Irma which is possibly heading this way.  We will likely know for sure in the next 48 hours.  Anyhow we will be safe and hopefully back to tarpon fishing maybe sometime next week.  0 for 1

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out with Taylor, Stacy, and John again today for our 2nd trip.  We blanked yesterday on the tarpon but had some good shark action and variety on the light tackle.  Today though conditions looked much better – no crazy storms in the morning to divert us away from fishing or to scare the tarpon away.  We found a good load of tarpon at our first stop, they weren’t there yesterday but like I said I think that was due to the storms.  Soon after we set up, John caught a nice 60 lb tarpon and did a great job catching him.  Stacy was up next and she got a nice little 30 lber.  Then it was dads turn, Taylor got the big boy a nice 90 lb fish, pretty large for this time of year!  After that things started to die down.  We didn’t see near as many fish rolling or splashing, we made a few moves where we had seen activity and had a few shark bites but that was it.  We left out after that and tried further west.  Didn’t see a whole lot but did see one tarpon jump and another roll, but no bites out of them but did get a nice blacktip shark.  After that we bent the light rods for a while with lots of trout and called it a day.  Glad we put them on the tarpon today after struggling yesterday.  This time of year though as I say it can be hit or miss, luckily they had two days to try!  I think John may be getting that fish mounted for his birthday too they make a beautiful piece of art of for the wall and we don’t have to kill the fish to do it.  Back at it tomorrow, then I’m off Tuesday as of now and out of town Wednesday, so if anyone wants to go Tuesday give me a shout it may be good!  3 for 3

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing